Weather Records in the United States and Around the World

I always find extreme weather records fascinating because some of them will just blow you away. If you think the weather is miserable or crazy where you live, take a look at some other places around the world. I think you’ll find most of these records absolutely mid boggling.

Temperatures

Coldest temperature in USA: -80°F at Prospect Creek Camp in the Endicott Mountains of northern Alaska on Jan. 23, 1971

Hottest temperature in USA: 134°F in Death Valley, CA on July 10, 1913

Coldest Temperature in the World: -129°F in Vostok, Antarctica on July 21, 1983

Hottest temperature in the World: 136°F in Al’ Aziziyah, Libya on September 13th, 1922

The largest 2-minute temperature change of +49°F occurred in Spearfish, South Dakota on January 22, 1943, at about 7:30am MST where the temperature rose from -4°F to 45°F.

The largest 24-hour recorded temperature change occurred on January 15, 1972 in Loma, Montana, where the temperature rose from −54°F to 49°F.

Rain

The 1-minute world record rainfall amount is 1.23 inches which occurred on July 4th, 1956 in Unionville, MD.

The 12-hour world record rainfall amount is 45.0 inches was set at Foc-Foc on La Reunion Island.

The 24-hour world record rainfall amount is 71.8 inches was set at Foc-Foc on La Reunion Island.

The 48-hour world record rainfall amount is 97.1 inches was set at Aurere on La Reunion Islands.

The 72-hour world record rainfall amount is 127.6 inches was set at Grand-Ilet on January 24th-27th, 1980.

Snow

Mount Baker, Washington received a record 1,140″ of snow in one season (1998-1999).

Wind

Scientists measured the fastest wind speed ever recorded, 318 mph, in one of the tornadoes that hit the suburbs of Oklahoma City on May 3, 1999. The 318 mph speed would put the tornado only 1 mph below an F-6 on the 0-to-6 Fujita scale. No tornado has ever been classified an F-6.

Two weather stations with the lowest recorded annual wind speeds are Talkeetna, Alaska and Medford, Oregon, both with annual winds of 4.8 mph.

St. Paul Island, Alaska is the city with the highest annual average speed of 17.6 mph. Mount Washington is higher at 35.3 mph, but only scientists who work at the weather station live there.

Tornadoes

Longest Track: The Tri-state Tornado that hit Missouri, Illinois and Indiana on March 18, 1925 which traveled 219 miles.

Highest Wind Speed: Oklahoma City on May 3, 1999 with a wind speed of 318 mph.

Most Deadly: The Tri-state Tornado that hit Missouri, Illinois and Indiana on March 18, 1925 which killed 689 people.

Widest: The Wilber/Hallam, Nebraska tornado during the outbreak of May 22, 2004, with a width of 2.5 miles.

Costliest: The Oklahoma City tornado of May 3, 1999 caused $1.2 billion dollars in damage.

Hurricanes

Hurricane Camille (August 17, 1969; 256 deaths) and the 1935 “Labor Day” hurricane are the only two Category 5 hurricanes to make US landfall.